…Says Nigeria has never been a big market for Binance
…He made an appeal on humanitarian grounds to all decision makers in Nigeria to allow Tigran safe passage home to his wife and two young children
…He argues that there is no need to imprison an innocent employee to answer for any allegations against Binance
THUR AUG 29 2024-theGBJournal| Richard Teng, Binance CEO demanding the release of Tigran, a Binance Executive held by the Federal Government for close six months now, has denied claims that Binance caused the collapse of the local currency, the Naira.
Teng in a statement issued today said the claim is not backed by facts.
According to Teng: ”Between 2021 and the end of 2022, the Naira traded between a relatively narrow range of USD1: 380 to USD1: 440.
We have been offering P2P services as a value-added service for our users wishing to get exposure to crypto during that period of time. The end of the Naira’s currency peg by the Government in June 2023 caused the biggest fall in Naira’s history according to experts.
It went from USD1: 460 in June 2023 to USD1: 900 by the end of 2023. The downward trend continued since.
The Naira traded at a recent low of USD1: 1,660 on 31 July 2024, representing a 50% decline from the start of 2024.
This downward trend continued despite Binance ceasing to offer P2P services in the country in February 2024. As economists have more elegantly explained, the movement of a country’s currency is attributable to various macroeconomic factors.”
Teng noted that Nigeria has never been a big market for Binance.
”The Government has said that we made USD$26bn in revenue from Nigeria in 2023. That is not the case. The $21.6bn figure is the total transaction volume from 2023.
To provide an understanding of transaction volume: if a person were to take $1000 and trade it 1000 times, that would represent $1m in transaction volume.
Our actual revenue is based on charging a small percentage of transaction fee and we are proud to offer our users some of the lowest transaction fees of any exchange globally.”
Meanwhile, the Binance CEO said a reason that the Nigerian government has used for continuing to hold Tigran is because “(Binance) is operating virtually.
”The only thing we have to hold on to is this defendant,” he adds.
He argues that there is no need to imprison an innocent employee to answer for any allegations against Binance.
”We have settled issues in countries around the world, including the US, Thailand, and most recently in Brazil and India, in a reasonable, collaborative and amicable manner with governments.
All these were done without threat or harm inflicted to any of our employees. This is no good reason to hold an innocent employee to advance the discussion of outstanding issues.”
Teng noted also that Tigran ”is a proud American who should not be subject to such unjust treatment. It is my sincere hope that the American government and political apparatus can exert its political will and muscle to bring Tigran home soon, so that he can get the adequate treatment and be reunited with his family and loved ones.
The US administration and legislators have the power to designate Tigran as one of its “unlawfully detained” citizens overseas and there are substantial reasons to do so.”
The Binance CEO called on global citizens to add their voices and concerns, convincing the Nigerian government that such unilateral action without strong basis will be detrimental to the long term economic development and well-being of a country.
”Key stakeholders in the government of Nigeria made the decision to unfairly and unlawfully detain Tigran and they can just as easily make the fair decision to allow Tigran, a former US federal agent, to go home, he argued.
He made an appeal on humanitarian grounds to all decision makers in Nigeria to allow Tigran safe passage home to his wife and two young children.
”Once these issues are resolved, we hope to work with the Nigerian government to support development of the Web3 industry, create more opportunities for its young, talented workforce, and support the effort to attract more foreign direct investment.”
X-@theGBJournal|Facebook-the Government and Business Journal|email:gbj@govbusinessjournal.com|govandbusinessj@gmail.com
